


Toys in the Attic

by Cainz



Category: Far Cry 3
Genre: Don't Judge Me, Dubious Consent, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Human Trafficking, I've just discovered Vaas and I'm writing this for myself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24808258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cainz/pseuds/Cainz
Summary: After she'd delivered a message from Citra, Vaas decided to keep the messenger alive instead of shooting her.
Relationships: Vaas Montenegro/Original Character(s), Vaas Montenegro/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just discovered Far Cry 3 and now I'm obsessed with Vaas, but can't play the game because my laptop is like "nooo" so now I have to deal with my sudden obsession this way.

She’d been wandering through the jungle aimlessly for hours. Legs and feet aching, most of her skin burnt from the sun, but the worst of it was the thirst. Last night she’d found a small stream and drank her fill, but she had had no such luck today so far. She’d followed it for a while, hoping it would lead somewhere, but they had given her orders to head south so she had to abandon it.

“What the hell am I doing here?” she whispered to herself.

She’d arrived on the main island a few weeks ago for research purposes. And on some whim decided to head on over to the neighboring islands, what could go wrong? Well, everything apparently. They’d gotten in some sort of tropical storm and the next thing she’d remembered was waking up on the steps of some sort of temple. Citra – that’s what the woman said her name was – had saved her life, nursed her back to health and in return asked her to bring a message to someone in the south. Vaas, his name was. She’d been shown a drawing and she’d also heard some of the stories. As if it wasn’t bad enough to be sent through the jungle to the other end of the island on her own, this man was apparently armed and dangerous. But her damn moral codex had not allowed her to refuse. She owed this woman her life.

“I’m wandering straight to my death.”

She sat down and leant against a tree, watching the peaceful scene before her. The thick trees of the jungle formed a huge glade, illuminated fully by sunlight. The grass that grew thick and green under the trees turned brown under the hot sun and even the usual buzz of surrounding insect seemed exhausted and less lively here. Nonetheless, it was peaceful. Just a few moments of rest, before-

Suddenly she heard a gunshot and instinctively hid behind a tree. A tiny part of her hoped it was that Vaas guy, so she could at least finally face the fears that had been building up for the past few days. She had constantly thought about what he was gonna do once they met and the stories – those brutal stories – she’d heard supplied her with enough material to keep her imagination going throughout the whole journey. Just judging from what she’d been told, he was so different from his sister that she’d found herself wondering if they actually were related.

Another shot was fired, this time actually hitting a tree near her and she felt her heart in her throat. She watched from behind the tree as three figures dressed in red emerged on the other end of the glade. She couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but she didn’t need to. The one in the middle was him. The black mohawk and the huge scar on the right side of his head told her everything she needed to know.

_When I said I wanted to face my fears, I didn’t mean it quite so literally_. She thought, watching them intently, waiting for the right moment to show herself and trying not to think about getting shot.

Talking to them didn’t have to mean getting killed, after all, Citra wouldn’t give her a message to deliver, that would put her in danger right? Her hand grabbed the straw doll from her pocket, that she was supposed to give him. It was just some small insignificant thing, but it seemed to have some sort of meaning tied to it, that she couldn’t quite grasp. It was just a straw doll. _This could be a peace offering_ , she felt herself hoping. But then again, she could picture Vaas as someone who’d shoot the messenger just for fun.

She heard him laughing and it sent shivers down her spine. They were coming closer.

Right, now or never.

She swallowed and tried to calm her breathing, before finally stepping out from where she had been hiding. She tried to be calm, tried to walk with purpose and tried to look as non-threatening as possible.

_It’s just a talk, nothing more._ She reminded herself. _Just a talk_

“V-Vaas” it came out more frightened than anything else, but at least she had their attention now.

“Who the fuck are you?”

And also a gun pointed at her. _Just a talk, nothing more_. She raised her hands to signal that she was not a threat, one hand still holding the straw doll. Vaas didn’t even glance at it. She doubted he’d even seen it. His brown eyes were trained on her.

“Citra sent me”

That provoked a reaction. Vaas’ demeanor changed completely. He went from ready to kill to almost relaxed, even his laugh was back

“Citra sent you, hm?”

He came closer, circling her, and she forced herself to remain still.

“And who are you?”

She really didn’t want to tell him her name.

“I’m… I’m supposed to deliver a message.”

She just wanted to get this over with and go home or go back to the Rakyat or anywhere else but here. She felt him stop and stand behind her, the barrel of his gun pressed painfully into her back.

“Are you fucking deaf? Huh?” He yelled and she flinched. “Your name. I don’t give a fuck about your message, I want your fucking name.”

She swallowed. He was worse than she’d imagined. Much worse. She thought the tribe had been exaggerating, to purposefully scare her, but no. If anything, they’d played it down.

“A-Alex.”

“ _Alex_ , see was that so hard? No.” He spoke to her like he had before, as if didn't just threaten her life, and moved to stand in front of her, raising her chin and turning her face to look at her. “You her new pet or something?” He stepped back to look at the rest of her. “Alright condition, I gotta say. Except for-” One of his nails dug into her sunburnt shoulders and she couldn’t help but whimper. “this. Looks like it hurts, huh.”

He released her chin, but kept on prodding her. _Like cattle_ , she thought.

“Alright, now what the fuck do you want.”

She carefully lowered her arms and held the straw doll out for him to take, gauging his reaction. This was what decided if she was gonna live or die. Vaas looked at her again, his scarred eyebrow raised and she shook under his gaze, holding her breath. When he took it delicately from her hand, she was almost relieved. The way he handled it, gently turning it around and looking at it almost sadly must mean that it had some value to him. It just had to. _Please let it mean something good._

But yet again his expression shifted into a mischievous grin.

“Look, hermanos.” He turned around to show the doll to the others. “what my sister has some dumb puta walk all over the island for.”

He laughed humorously, as he took out a lighter and watched as the straw burnt, the small flame reflecting in his dead eyes. He let it fall to the floor, like a child would do a toy they’ve lost interest in.

_Fuck. He’s gonna kill me._

It had all been for nothing. She’d risked her life for nothing. And in the end he was right, she had been stupid to agree to deliver this message. She should have said no, should’ve walked out when Citra had proposed this suicide mission and yet her stupid morals got in the way. As always.

“So she sent you, hm, to me to bring me” his expression soured “this?”

He kicked the remnants of the straw doll out of his way chuckling to himself and she swallowed again, not knowing when his mood was gonna change again.

“Y-Yes.”

Suddenly he was at her side, one arm around her shoulder, pulling her with him, making her almost loose her footing. He was still touching her sunburnt skin, but this time he was more… gentle for some reason. His bandaged hands were still digging into it enough to make her want to get out of his grasp, but the dull burn of hands was better than the biting sensation of his nails. Speaking of biting sensation: He smelled of sweat and cigars and some cheap rum which he had apparently bathed in, judging by how overpowering that rum note was.

“Sounds to me a bit” he moved his hand as if he was looking for the right word. “Dumb, no? Why would you do that, Alex? Hm, why risk your life for something so insignificant?”

She was silent, turning her head away from him, not just because the alcohol was making her rather dizzy. She really, really didn't want him to know he was right. It was insignificant. Citra should've known he was too far gone to save. And besides, she really didn’t want to have conversation, where at any moment, you could get shot for breathing in the wrong direction.

“Nonono, Alex, Alex” his hand grabbed her chin again, turning her head back to him.

His eyes were still dead, but he was smiling again. _That smile_ made her skin crawl. Like a shark baring his teeth, just to make his prey quiver before they were ripped apart.

“You don’t wanna make me angry now, do you? We’re getting along so well.”

Were they? _I’m not dead yet, so that’s something_. And apart from pointing his gun at her, threatening her and being all around intimidating, he hadn’t really hurt her. _Yet,_ she forced herself to add. _He hasn’t hurt me yet_.

“Citra… S-She saved my life.”

He let go of her chin and motioned for his men to follow him.

“A life for a life. Poetic, no? Sounds a bit, counterproductive to send someone to their death after saving their life, but that’s how she is. Whimsical with her things.” His eyes suddenly turned distant, as if he was somewhere else. “She’d break her toys and I’d repair them for her, because she was my hermana, you know. And when I was done she’d already moved onto another thing to play with.”

She hadn’t expected him to open up so suddenly and despite her wanting little to do with him, she couldn’t help but be fascinated. His antics, the way he carried himself, how he seemed to radiate insanity, it was all so dangerously interesting. But she wasn’t watching an animal from the safety of a fence, she was in harm’s way, unable to escape and completely at his mercy. She had to thread carefully.

“W-Where are we going?”

He just looked at her, the smile from earlier still tugging at his lips, but just as threatening as ever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've literally been so obsessed with Vaas as a character for the past few days that I'm experiencing a sudden need to just sit down and write for hours.

He let go of her and for a moment she found herself wondering if this was it and she was truly just allowed to leave, but that hope was short lived, as he immediately pointed his gun at her again.

“If you run, I will shoot you, hm?”

He was still smiling, as if daring her to try. She wouldn’t, even if she managed to escape, it would take her days to find that temple again if she’d even survive that long. Besides, he’d find her and she’d rather not think about what he’d do to her to make up for wasting his time.

“Tie her hands.” Vaas said to one of the men.

The guy closest to her took out some climbing rope and grabbed her wrists quite roughly, crossing them behind her back and yanking her backwards in the process. Despite her best efforts, she wasn’t able to silence a gasp, when she felt her shoulder strain. She’d wanted to silently accept her fate and not look weak in front of Vaas, as seeing people in pain apparently was what got him off and she was not about to give that to him easily.

“Why’re you hurting her, huh? I just said tie her hands, Carlos. Don’t damage the merchandise. Now look what you’ve done.” Vaas grabbed her by the nape of her neck and turned her around to face this Carlos guy. “She’s in tears and we can’t have that now, can we? How’s that gonna look on yelp, Carlos?”

“Sorry, Boss.” Carlos furrowed his brow, apparently Vaas was as unpredictable to his men as he was to her, or at least to this man.

Vaas turned her around again so she was facing him, his nails now digging into her chin instead of her nape as he pulled her closer. He must be able to feel her increasing heart rate, with his hand so close to her artery

“Sorry about that, you see, this is why I don’t let new recruits handle merchandise. They always damage the goods.”

Vaas’ other hand delicately touched her right cheek, his thumb gently wiping away a tear that had escaped. She was now truly in tears and waiting for Vaas to make some cruel joke at her expense, closing her eyes so she at least didn’t have to see his grin when he did. She couldn’t turn her face away after all.

He was silent for a few seconds and then she felt fabric softly wiping away the wetness on her cheeks. Out of surprise she opened her eyes to stare at him, but he wasn’t looking at her directly. He was focused on the task at hand. He’d used the red fabric that had previously been tied around his upper arm as a makeshift handkerchief. When he was done, he tucked the fabric into her bra, grinning.

“For safekeeping.” He said, standing up and moving around her to stand next to Carlos, who was still holding onto her arms.

“Loosen her ties, Carlos. All that bondage porn you watch taught you nothing, hm? I’m in a good mood today, I’ll show you. I’m sure your puta will appreciate it.”

Vaas didn’t immediately grab her newly freed wrists and she used that to make sure her shoulder was fine. When he finally did, he held them in a strong grip, but not enough to be painful. She felt doubled rope being wrapped around her wrists again and heard Vaas explaining what he was doing to Carlos. He was weirdly calm, almost nice and it reminded her of the way her teachers had spoken to her in school. Just when she thought she knew what she was getting with him, suddenly a new side of him revealed itself and she was back to square one.

“And finished, hope you wrote that down, hermano. Now who wants to lead this perrita?”

Vaas moved back in front of her, holding the excess rope which functioned as a makeshift lead.Her restraints weren’t incredibly uncomfortable, no chafing, no knots pressing into her skin, and it didn’t feel like the bloodstream to her hands was cut, but they were tight nonetheless.

Suddenly he grabbed her by the neck again, mood once again shifting, and forced her to turn towards his men. He was dangerously close, using his body as a wall so she couldn’t back out of his grip. He was strong and despite not even being pressed against his body, she could feel his well-defined muscles pressing against her back.

“Who’s it gonna be, hm? I’ll let you choose, chica, just this once. A little treat, since you’ve been so good.”

She swallowed. Carlos had been rough with her previously, but he’d probably be more careful with her after Vaas had reprimanded him. As for the other guy, she had no idea if he was better or worse than Carlos. Then a thought struck her. A stupid, idiotic, borderline braindead thought.

“A-Are you an option?” She felt herself speak those words, before her brain caught up with what she was saying.

Had her hands been free, she would’ve slapped herself right then and there, but now it was too late. The words were out. She could see in his eyes that he was surprised, but the rest of his face was still hidden behind an unreadable mask. He was completely silent, no snide comments, no rambling, nothing and she wasn’t sure if this was a good sign or not. At least he wasn’t yelling, so that was something.

Her idea was to remain on his good side, maybe even get him to become attached to her, but at least rise in his good graces. He decided if she lived or died, so if she wanted to survive, she had to get him to like her. It wasn’t like she had permanently bound herself to him, it was just a walk back to their camp. She could manage not pissing him off for a few hours. Although, it was a bit like walking through a field of landmines.

His smile was back, at least.

“Women” He said shrugging his shoulders towards his men, who chuckled nervously, apparently just as confused.

He let go of her neck and she immediately moved a few feet away from him. And although finally being able to breathe normally again was great, she felt herself missing the close proximity already. He was danger personified and every fiber of her being rebelled against the feeling blossoming in her chest, but she was drawn to him for some reason.

“Alright chica, I said what I said, it’s your choice. You can walk with the boss today.”

* * *

She didn’t know how long they were walking, but at one point her thirst suddenly came rushing back. Walking all day had taken its toll on her and she felt as though she could be passing out any second. She closed her eyes trying to focus, trying to remain alert, but she swayed, dark spots dancing in front of her. And then she heard it: The soft flow of water over stone. She opened her eyes and looked around. There was a creek right next to them. Right there. All she had to do was walk over and drink her fill.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

Her mind didn’t register who was speaking to her. To her, it didn’t matter. She was dying of thirst. And so she pushed past the guy and was instantly pulled back harshly by her bound hands, almost dislocating her shoulder. She lost her footing and crashed to the floor, landing right in front of a pair of boots. It was all a blur, but she felt the pain nonetheless and tried to curl up in a fetal position out of pure instinct. One of the boots in front of her moved to press onto her neck, enough to render her motionless, but not enough to crush her windpipe.

“What the fuck was that supposed to accomplish, huh?”

“Please, wa-ter” she managed to push passed chapped lips, trying to glance up at who was speaking to her, but she couldn’t quite make out a face.

The boot on her neck disappeared and she was propped up against a tree by careful yet rough hands. The world around her was still spinning but now a bottle was being held to her lips. Excruciatingly slowly water began to flow into her mouth. Trying to drink as quickly as possible, she choked and the bottle was taken away.

“N-No, please.” She coughed, trying to move closer to the bottle that was held just out of her reach.

“Slowly”

She nodded frantically, which didn’t help her blurred vision, but she didn’t care. She needed water. Once more the bottle was pressed to her lips and she drank, slower this time, but no less greedy. It was lukewarm but that didn’t matter, it soothed her burning throat. Sooner than she’d hoped, the bottle was empty.

“T-Thank you” she breathed in Vaas’ general direction, when her eyes began to focus again.

He was still squatting in front of her holding the empty water bottle, deep in thought. When she spoke, he looked at her, eyes filled with a sort of anger she hadn’t seen before. He tossed the bottle to one of his men, which meant he now had his hands free to hurt her, but she was too tired to care, too tired to be scared of him even. She turned her face away from him, breathing slowly.

“Wanna tell me why you waited so long to ask for water, hm?”

In all honesty, she didn’t think showing weakness – any weakness that is – was in her best interest, and besides, she’d highly doubted he’d let her have water even if she asked. He seemed like the type of guy, who’d let you pass out from thirst before even thinking about wasting resources on someone who was just ‘merchandise’ to him. Suddenly he grabbed her hair and forced her to face him again.

“Fucking look at me when I’m talking to you. Do you wanna die? Huh? Is that it?”

His other hand grabbed his gun and pressed the barrel against her neck, and dragged it upwards until it was sitting just under her jaw. She forced her eyes open to meet his gaze, shaking her head as much as the hand in her hair would allow. She could feel the cold metal press against her hot skin, knowing that at any point he might pull the trigger. _So much for staying on his good side._ She didn’t really want to die, at least not like this, not for a small favor and definitely not at the hands of some psychopath.

“No? Then why the FUCK didn’t you say shit?”

“I-I didn’t…” she swallowed again, trying to get her heartbeat to slow down. “think I was allowed.”

That actually made him laugh.

“You think, I’d let you die, hm?” He put his gun away again, but still held onto her hair. “No, chica, that’s too easy. What kind of message does that send to my sister when they find the body of the gift she so graciously sent me, hm?”

He looked at her, his eyes no longer clouded with anger, and smiled. Suddenly he leaned closer, his hot breath on her ear and his sharp teeth grazing her earlobe.

“You’re mine now.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're finally at the camp 
> 
> (took me long enough lol)

She should’ve realized how weird of a favor this whole thing was. Citra hadn’t sent Vaas a straw doll. Citra had sent him her for whatever reason. But what was this supposed to mean? Was she a sacrificial lamb or just another plaything for Vaas to break? She didn’t know which was worse.

But what she did know was that Citra had betrayed her. They hadn’t talked all that much when she was with the tribe, just quietly sat close to each other in the evenings until the fire died down and everyone went to sleep, but Citra had always looked at her like she saw something that no one else did. And now she’d betrayed her, sent her to her brother knowing he was going to hurt her, or worse even, kill her.

_And for what?_

“God, this is all so fucked up.” She whispered to herself, resting her head against the wall of Vaas personal quarters.

They’d pretty much dragged her to the camp, fastened a chain around her ankle and left her here, not even bothering to untie her hands. The room was a mess, that much she could see. There was a “bed”, or rather a mattress lying in the middle of the room, like someone had thrown it onto the floor in a fit of rage and arranged the room around it. The bedsheet was taped to the mattress, as it was clearly far too small to fit. _And most likely stolen_ , she added. Unsurprisingly, there was no bed-set, only a blanket lying halfway on the floor and a pillow without a cover. The truly interesting part of the room though, were the LED tube lights hanging from the ceiling. Weird addition, but… kind of cool.

The only window in the room – consisting of mostly shattered glass – told her that the sun was setting already. Vaas wasn’t back yet and she didn’t know if this was good or bad. He was unpredictable, yes, but she wanted to know more about him, even if that meant putting herself in danger. There was something about him that scared, but at the same time fascinated her.

“Maybe I am going insane” she muttered and tried to lie down as comfortably as she could, the wooden floorboards creaking at her every move.

Her empty stomach gave her one hell of a headache and since she doubted Vaas would return anytime soon, even if he did it was highly unlikely he’d give her anything but water, she tried to get some sleep to escape the hunger. After all, she hadn’t slept peacefully in days, haunted by nightmares that now were her reality.

She must have dozed off in the end, because she awoke about an hour later to Vaas’ boot nudging her. She groaned, her upper body stiff from sleeping restrained.

“Awake? Good.”

His boot tapped her bound arms, making her tense up.

“Looks uncomfortable, must’ve been real tired when you’re willing to sleep like that, hm? You see, my guys – they’re not used to dealing with ladies, you know. Only merchandise.”

That word made her skin crawl. Merchandise, like they were objects. Well, to Vaas people were nothing more than that. The tribe had told her about what was going on with the pirates. All the looting, kidnapping and… human trafficking, seemed too well organized than just “pirates getting lucky”.

“Want me to untie you, hm?”

She nodded, closing her eyes again, still tired. The nap had only made her realize how sleep deprived she truly was and now she longed to return to sweet oblivion. Away from all of this, but most importantly from him. Suddenly he grabbed her chin, squeezing a bit too tightly and forcing her to sit up. She didn’t even have time to flinch, but she did start to shake when she saw the look in his eyes. 

“What the fuck did I tell you?! Hm? Look at me when I’m fucking talking to you, you dumb piece of shit.”

She nodded forcing herself to look at him, blinking away the tears threatening to spill. Last time she cried, he had wiped them away, but he’d been in a good mood back then. Now she was faced with the ruthless killer she’d heard terrible stories about. And now he was also holding a knife. If she didn’t obey him, he’d hurt her. There was not a doubt in her mind about that.

“And use your fucking words, chica, if I wanted a mute I would’ve gotten myself one of the rejects.”

She didn’t know what ‘rejects’ he was talking about, but she knew she didn’t want to be one of them. Then again… The way he said it, one could almost believe he was _keeping_ her. At least for now. She was already in his rooms, instead of inside one of those bamboo cages, and he did take pity on her just now, offering to untie her. That all seemed like a good sign.

“Y-Yes” she all but whimpered, afraid to cause another outburst.

Anything, she’d do absolutely anything to not be on the receiving end of that knife. And it looked like she wouldn’t be, right now at least, as his mood had steadily calmed. He was looking at her, his eyes still emanating danger, but his facial expression had turned playfully.

“Nooo, come on, Alex. You can do better than that!” He held the knife to her throat, the metal cool on her hot skin. “Come on, beg.”

She tried to swallow her fear and think of something that would please him. She couldn’t lower her head, because he was still holding her chin, softer now, but still with the same strength. She couldn’t move the rest of her body either, so it was all about what words she chose.

“P-Please… Could you please untie me?” she swallowed again, unsure if she should add some sort of honorific so she just closed her eyes and whispered a soft “Sir” just in case.

So soft that she doubted he’d even heard it. She closed her eyes again, scared he might actually slit her throat. But then he chuckled, let go of her and stood again, the wooden floorboards creaking as he moved around her. She breathed a sigh of relief, lowering her head to calm herself.

“Do I look like a Sir to you, hm?”

His tone was soft again, but nonetheless her head snapped up at being spoken to and she tried to meet his gaze. He seemed to like that, seemed to want her to look at him for whatever reason. But what did he want her to answer? Shaking her head would probably just send him into another fit of rage and she really didn’t want to feel that knife at her throat again any time soon. She settled on the truth, as he didn’t look like the type of guy who enjoyed getting a half-assed response.

“Well, the last time I used your name I almost got shot.”

She managed a nervous chuckle, which immediately died down, when she saw his face. He was looking at her, completely focused. His eyes staring her down, as if he was looking for something. She couldn’t advert her gaze, that would just be another fuck up added to the list of reasons he would dispose of her, but the tension between them was unbearable. He held up his knife again and she couldn’t help but recoil, eyes closed, waiting for the sharp bite of the blade meeting skin.

_Please don’t._

But all she felt were rough hands holding hers and the rope slowly falling off her wrists.

“Thank you” She breathed, relieved to live another day.

And for a moment they just sat there, him inspecting his knife, letting his fingers run over the blade, and her trying to move her stiff muscles into a more comfortable position. You could hear a fire crackling outside and the buzz of insects had followed them to the camp as well. But the silence between them was as heavy as ever. Like the calm before the storm.

“D’she talk about me?” He paused. “Citra, did she talk about me?”

Almost expecting to be faced with another fit of rage, she opened her eyes again to look at him directly. But he was calm, collected, nothing like the beast she’d been faced with a few minutes ago. He seemed almost… sad.

“No” She shook her head, rubbing her wrists. “She just told me your name and showed me a sketch.”

Said out loud, the whole thing just sounded incredibly stupid. And it was. Walking around the jungle, hoping to find a guy who was probably going to kill her on sight, that just screamed suicidal. Either that, or life debt. Or both.

She didn’t exactly plan on surviving after she’d delivered the message either. She wanted to, but she knew it wasn’t likely. And she had accepted that, more or less. What else was she supposed to do? Not obey Citra, thus turning the Rakyat against her, or do what she wants and hope for the slim chance of survival.

_I didn’t die, but what is survival going to cost?_

“W-What… What’s gonna happen to me?”

She didn’t know if speaking out of turn would anger him, but she needed to know. Although, when he stood up again, knife still in hand and began pacing around the room, she did regret bringing it up.

“Look, Alex, you’re a smart girl – not smart enough to know how stupid this whole thing was, but we all make dumb decisions, no? So, I’m not gonna kill you.” He suddenly stopped, turning to face her. “I am keeping you, hermana.”

He walked closer to her, once more squatting down in front of her. She forced herself to hold his gaze, to not back down, remembering how angry he got when she did. His hand moved to touch her face, soft, almost gentle. He was no longer looking at her, deep in thought as he let his thumb stroke across her temple. His hand was calloused and rough, marred from decades of having to survive in the jungle and she found herself not caring about it, since it was still weirdly calming to be handled with care again, even if it was from his hands. The last time… The last time she had been allowed to experience someone caring was with Citra. Citra, who betrayed her.

Vaas was different. Maybe he was insane, yes, but he had protected her in some way. He hadn’t yet hurt her, well, he was rough yes, but it wasn’t the torture she had imagined would happen when they met. Without noticing, she’d already leaned into his touch, basking in the warmth of his attention. It was nice. Kindness had become such a foreign concept to her in her time on the island, that she was grateful for whatever kind act fate allowed her to experience.

_No, this wasn’t fate_. She tried to move away from his hand, shaking her head in a foolish attempt to shake some sense into herself. He was quicker, however, forcing her back into her previous position with his other hand.

“Nononono, don’t be like that. You’re enjoying yourself, no? I’m just trying to be nice… gentle. You like when I’m being gentle. You see, chica”

He came closer, so close that their noses were almost touching, and looked deep into her eyes. He was smiling again, that smile that made her skin crawl and her breathing quicken. It was less of a smile, honestly, more a beast baring his teeth. So while his hand was still caressing her cheek in the same way, the look in his eyes told her he was just toying with his prey. And she’d given in. She’d allowed herself to enjoy his attention.

“I like you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pls leave some feedback
> 
> This is probably going to be longer than 5 chapters btw


End file.
